Flu Fever
by SlavetoMyself55
Summary: Dipper is as sick as a dog and not getting any better due to a medicine mix up. The family must depend on Wendy to take care of him while they embark on a mission to grab the right medication for Dipper. Shouldn't be too hard, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! I actually began writing this years ago when season 2 of Gravity Falls first began and kind of just left it hanging in my files for a while before finally deciding to finish it. This story takes place near the beginning of season 2 probably sometime after the first episode. I suppose it could also have taken place anytime during the first season. Either way, enjoy the story and happy reading! :)**

If there was one thing that Dipper hated experiencing the most, it was the feel of leftover bits of food exiting his mouth in fierce spasms. Dipper retched into the porcelain bowl, emptying out his dinner from earlier. He moaned into the toilet, hating the stench and acidic taste prickling the inside of his mouth.

He wanted to cry. He'd been sick with the flu for nearly two days now and he was tired of feeling this way all the time; the continuous twisting of his stomach, the burning of his throat, and always shivering even though his head felt like it was on fire. All in all, Dipper Pines absolutely HATED being sick.

A dry sob echoed throughout the room as he fought to keep in the tears. A hand gingerly rubbed small circles on his back and he was faintly aware of his twin sister whispering comforting words to him. Dipper leaned back once he was sure he was done vomiting and was glad his sister was allowing him to rest on her for a moment. His chest heaved up and down with heavy breaths.

"You okay, Dip?" Mabel's soft voice asked as she patted his back comfortingly.

Dipper's stomach churned, and he moaned. Slightly curling in on himself, a tear slipped out his left eye. He let out a painful whimper.

"I wish we were back home, Mabel," he choked out.

"Kids?"

Mabel and Dipper jumped slightly at the gruff sound of their great uncle outside the room. The door squeaked open and Stan peeked his head through. He took in the sight of his great niece and nephew holding each other on the floor and fully entered the room.

He knelt in front of them and placed his hand against Dipper's forehead. He made a thoughtful noise before turning towards Mabel. "Go grab the thermometer, Mabel."

Mabel nodded before squeezing her brother's shoulder and exiting the room. Dipper pushed himself up against the wall and groaned. He saw Stan stand up, grab a towel, and run it under the sink. He wrung it until it was damp and knelt back down to his level, placing the cool cloth on Dipper's forehead. It felt good on his burning head and he closed his eyes.

"Geez, kid, it's been two days and you're still as sick as a mule. Any more three am puke fests and I'm gunna have to hire an exorcist," Stan joked.

Sudden guilt built up inside Dipper and he couldn't help the few tears that slipped down his cheeks. Stan noticed and frowned, worry filling his eyes.

"Hey, hey. What's this? Save your tears, squirt. You're gunna be fine," he said with a small smile.

"I'm sorry for making you put up with me, Grunkle Stan," Dipper rasped out between his tears, sobs escaping him and shivers running down his spine. Stan fully sat down next to him and wrapped a comforting arm around him, rubbing up and down to stop his shivering.

"Alright, alright. Sh. It's okay." Stan waited for Dipper's crying to slow down before continuing.

"Kid, I made a commitment to take care of you and your sister all summer and I fully intend to keep that promise. I'm doing this because I want to make sure you're better. I've never had any kids, but I care about you two enough to think of you as my own." He smiled down at Dipper. "No need to blame yourself for anything, Dipper. This stuff just happens."

Dipper wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at his great uncle with a small smile of his own, secretly glad he wasn't alone to deal with this. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan," he croaked out.

Stan ruffled his hair affectionately. "Nothin' to it, kiddo."

Mabel entered the room at that moment and handed the thermometer to Stan. Stan took it and stood up, shaking the device up and down.

"Mabel, sweetie, come help your brother back to bed, okay? He needs a lot more rest if he's gunna improve."

Mabel lowered herself and wrapped an arm around Dipper's midsection gently. She helped hoist him to his feet and together they walked back to their room in the attic. Stan followed, still very much worried about Dipper's condition. Once there, Dipper crawled back into bed. His painful stomachache was finally drifting away from his earlier vomiting.

He curled the blankets in around himself tightly to ease the quivers. Stan walked over and told him to face him, so he could take his temp. Dipper begrudgingly did and propped up against the headrest, slipping the thermometer underneath his tongue.

Stan tucked Mabel in to bed, assuring her that her brother was going to be fine. He sat on Dipper's bed and pulled the thermometer out of his mouth. Eyes squinting, he read off the marked setting.

"102.2," he sighed out. "Alright, looks like you're not leaving this bed for a while, Dipper, so rest up while you can."

Dipper nodded lethargically and slipped back under the covers. Stan made sure he was safely tucked in before walking towards the exit. He looked back to see that both of the Pines twins were off sleeping soundly. He smiled.

"Night, kiddos."

* * *

"What do you mean, medicine?" Stan bluntly replied to Mabel's question.

Mabel blinked in surprise at the response before laying her hands on her hips and glaring up at the old man in his wife beater and striped boxers.

"What do you mean, what do you mean, medicine?" She pointed a finger up at him.

Stan scratched his chin while quirking a brow up at her. "What?"

The female twin gave an exaggerated sigh. "Grunkle Stan, you know Dipper needs medicine!"

Stan rolled his eyes and said, "Look, kid, when I was his age and came down with a sickness, I toughened it out and took it like a champ! All he needs is sleep and water, trust me. He'll be back on his feet in no time!"

Mabel pouted. Her great uncle may have been able to get over his past colds, but Dipper was different. He rarely got sick and when he did they were always horrible. Her brother was a sensitive case when he became sick. Her family even had to grab him specific types of medicine at the drug store to placate the illness. As tough as Dipper was in most situations, his immune system was not. It secretly terrified Mabel that it would become his demise one day.

With pleading brown sparkling eyes and lower lip trembling, Mabel gave her best kicked puppy impression up at her grunkle. Stan immediately tore his gaze away, frowning. He could feel her powerful gaze boring into the wrinkles of his skin. He dared a peek and regretted it when the tears started filling the brim of her lower lids. Finally, he gave a drawn-out sign of resignation.

"Alright, alright. Though my wallet pains to do this, I guess we'll go get your brother medicine."

Mabel squealed in delight and embraced Stan before letting go quickly and rambling off, "Thanks, Grunkle Stan! Okay, my parents and I always get Dipper the same medicine at the store. We'll get a few types of—"

"Types!? What, are you trying to rob me!?" He sighed at Mabel's frown, "Fine, we'll go, BUT, it won't be until after I've done my first tour, alright?"

Mabel gave him thumbs up. "You got it, hombre!"

Stan grunted before shuffling towards a drawer in the kitchen and taking out a small white box. He squinted his eyes and found the word TYLENOL on the front within the small print and took out two small pills. He beckoned Mabel forward and gave her the pills.

"Here, meanwhile give this to the kid. Hopefully it'll reduce that fever of his. Oh! And take this too, whydon'tcha?"

Mabel grimaced at the ancient looking cough syrup he was holding. The label was shredded and tinted yellow with age.

"Uh, I think I'll just take the pills, Grunkle Stan."

Stan opened his mouth to protest, but Mabel had already darted out of the room and up the stairs. Stan looked at the bottle in his hands.

"What's the big deal? Kids love cherry flavoring!"

Mabel rapped on their door. "Dipper?" She opened the door and peeked in. Dipper was still sleeping, breathing in steadily with the blanket wrapped tightly around him.

Walking up to the side of his bed, she placed her hand on his shoulder and began to lightly shake.

"Dipper. Dipper, c'mon, get up."

The boy let out a small grunt of annoyance and curled up even further into his ball of warmth. Mabel pouted frustratingly and shook him much harder than before. "Up and at 'em, Dippingsauce!"

Dipper's brown eyes creaked open and he glared at the rude awakening from his twin. She made no acknowledgment of the glare and held out the pills for him with a brace filled smile.

"Sorry, bro bro, but you know how the song goes! When there's a sickness in your tummy, take some meds and feel less crummy!" Mabel sang out of tune, her sparkly rainbow colored sweater bouncing as she danced a little jig for him. She motioned for her brother to sit up.

Dipper groaned and slowly unfurled himself. He sat up slightly and held out his hand to deposit the Tylenol down his throat. He took a sip of water from his night stand timidly. Thankfully his stomach was feeling fine, but he knew that it might come back. He couldn't even think about food at the moment. Right now, though, his head was killing him.

Mabel noticed the sheen of sweat glistening on his feverish forehead and told him that she'd go grab a towel for him. He watched her go and decided to sleep some more; he felt exhausted.

Downstairs, Mabel was grabbing a cool towel when Stan walked in dressed in his usual Mister Mystery Shack attire, sipping on a Pitt Cola.

"How is the kid? Doing better?" He sipped on his drink, flipping up his eye patch.

The pre-teen shook her head with a smile. "Oh, Grunkle Stan, I always forget you're old. Medicine takes _time_ to heal a person. I'm sure he'll feel a lot better in a few hours."

Stan rolled his eyes at the jab about him being old and leaned up against the fridge, crossing his arms. "Well, it better be soon. Can't have him acting like a vegetable the whole summer."

"Dude, I wonder what kind of vegetable Dipper would be," a voice piped up. They turned to see Soos the handyman entering the kitchen with a broom. He seemed to be in deep thought.

"Lettuce? Cauliflower? Squash? Heh, heh...squash." The man child chuckled at the word.

"Nobody asked you, Soos," Stan deadpanned.

Mabel gasped in delight. "Maybe an eggplant! He's the thing that he can't stand!"

"Or asparagus!" Soos pointed out before shuddering. "My worst veggie nightmare…"

Mabel giggled and they started listing off vegetables back and forth. Stan rolled his eyes in annoyance when Soos shouted, "Cotton Candy!" He decided to break it off.

"Alright, enough, you two. Mabel, go busy yourself with stocking merchandise." Mabel mock saluted before skipping off into the gift shop.

"Soos," Stan began, and the latter straightened up, "Go ahead and give Dipper this," he said handing Soos the cool towel Mabel had originally been grabbing, "and while you're at it, give this to him, too. I gotta get rid of this somehow." Soos took the cough syrup Stan had offered Mabel earlier into his large hands. Soos squinted at the words that were too faded to see on the yellow stained label.

"Nice," he commented with a thumbs up and grin before making his way upstairs. Stan shook his head, finishing off his drink. He took off to go open the shop for more moronic tourists to scam them of their money.

"Yo, Dipper. Dawg, you awake?"

Soos peeked his head through the door of the twins' room. His eyes caught sight of the small figure sprawled out on his bed, breathing a bit shallowly. Soos walked in and set the cough syrup on their nightstand. His face softened at the semi-peaceful look on Dipper's sleeping features.

"Awww," he cooed, "Even when you're all passed out and sweaty you almost match your sister's cuteness." With that said, Soos carefully placed the soothing towel on his forehead and made his way out of the room to let the little tyke sleep.

Dipper hummed at the feeling of something cool on his face before his eyes fluttered opened. His lips smacked together as he turned his head slightly to his left. In his hazy state, he spotted a bottle next to him. He groaned in delight at the sight.

"Water," he rasped out before clumsily making a snag at the bottle. His clammy fingers grasped it and unscrewed the loose cap before bringing the lid to his mouth. Under the illusion that he was drinking out of a bottle of water, Dipper tipped it back and began to chug the substance. Almost immediately, he choked and spluttered as he spat out some of the substance in surprise by the foul taste slithering down his throat like molasses.

Coughing violently, he dropped the nearly empty bottle and it clattered to the floor, rolling underneath his bed. His hacking had him sitting up and clasping his throat. A moment later, the door burst open as Mabel came rushing in with a cup of water, the liquid sloshing everywhere as she hurried to get to him. Dipper, covering his cough, took the cup gratefully and began to down the substance.

He let loose a shuddering breath when he was finished, and Mabel patted him gently on the back with worried eyes. Dipper's eyes moved to hers and he gave her a small smile of gratitude before moaning and dropping back onto the bed, eyelids drooping low. Mabel placed the cool cloth on his forehead once more and went back downstairs to get him more water.

 **Stay tuned because I will be updating these daily! Until next time! *throws down grenade at feet and explodes***

 **Dipper: As always, Soos, you're right.**

 **Soos: My wisdom is both a blessing and a curse.**

 **(from other room) Stan: Soos! The portable toilets are clogged again!**

 **Soos: I am needed elsewhere. (backs out slowly)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2! Enjoy! :)**

Later that morning, Stan had just finished his first tour and was counting his cash when a scream had him jump out of his skin.

"GRUNKLE STAN!" A loud and stern voice called out from the top of the stairs. He craned his neck to see a VERY unhappy Mabel stomping her way downstairs.

"Oh, geez," Stan said fearfully as Mabel stood in front of him with a tapping foot.

"What kind of pills did you give Dipper, Grunkle Stan?" Mabel nearly said in a sickening sweet voice, brows lowered. Stan blanched.

"Uh. Tylenol of course! What else would I—?"

Mabel interrupted by thrusting her hand out. "Box!"

Stan didn't waste any time and grabbed the box of pills he had used that morning. Mabel snatched it from him and read the front. She gasped.

"Grunkle Stan, this isn't Tylenol! It's for people who can't sleep!"

"What!? That's ridiculous! It said Tylenol on the front of it! Lemme see that!"

He took the box and his eyes scanned the front of it rapidly. He sought the word out Tylenol again and made a triumphant noise, "See! Right there! 'Do not confuse with Tylenol'! Huh? Oh."

His face fell at the words and he reread the box once more, now seeing it more clearly than from this morning. He scratched his nose as a look of realization crossed his features.

"Huh. So _that's_ where my insomnia pills went."

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel whined out with fear masking her voice.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Stan replied, fidgeting a bit, "Look, those pills will pass in only a couple of hours. The good news is that he'll most likely be asleep the rest of the day so at least he won't be harming himself in any way. The side effects aren't too bad either so—"

"One of those side effects didn't happen to be a halluciny thingy where he would start seeing things by any chance?" Mabel piped up nervously.

"What, hallucinations? Eh," he wracked his memory for a second, "Not sure. Though I may have been given those pills at the Woodstick Festival years back. Why?"

"Well, Dipper woke up and sort of thought I was a talking eggplant for two minutes and kind of freaked out on me before passing out again." Mabel rubbed her arm with a shrug.

Stan grunted in response. "Alright, well, don't wake him up anymore and we'll go get his medicine right now."

"But who's gunna take care of Dipper?" Mabel asked in concern.

Stan picked the inside of his ear. "Hm. Well, you gotta come with me to make sure I get the right medicine, and I'm gunna need Soos to drive us since my car had that certain _accident_ last week and is still in the shop…" His mind wracked for a moment before a click switched on in his brain and he poked his head into the gift shop.

"Wendy!"

The red-headed teenager glanced up from her magazine idly, feet propped up on the counter. She set her magazine aside and laid back with her arms behind her head, a small smile on her face.

"What up, Mister Pines? You look like you're ready to have a heart attack," she joked.

"Save your pity. Listen, I need you to take care of Dipper while Mabel, Soos, and I are out getting his medicine. Do you think you can handle that?" He gave her a stern look.

Wendy waved off a hand. "Of course I can. I have three brothers, Stan. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle Dipper."

"SOOS!" Stan called out. There was a clatter of feet coming from outside and Soos opened the front door, looking frantic.

"What is it, Mister Pines? Are you having a heart attack?"

Stan glared at the man child. Mabel heard an oink and she turned her head to see her pig, Waddles, trotting up next to her. She let out a squeal and scooped him up into her arms.

"You two," Stan pointed to Soos and Mabel, "are coming with me to get Dipper his medicine and extra food for this week. I'm gunna close up shop for a bit and Wendy's gunna look after Dipper while we're gone, kapeesh?"

"Do I get extra pay for this?" Wendy joked.

"Don't push your luck," Stan warned as he pointed at her with narrowed eyes.

Mabel set down Waddles and looked up at Stan with big worried eyes. "Grunkle Stan, are you sure he's gunna be okay? I mean, he just thought I was an eggplant for crying out loud! What if he does something crazy while we're gone?"

"An _eggplant_? Dude, Stan, what'd you give him?" Wendy asked perplexedly, lowering her magazine.

The old man glared at her. " _NOT_ Tylenol. Look, we're getting off track here. Mabel, sweetie, he'll be fine. Now, c'mon, before I change my mind. My money is coiling in fear inside my pockets right now."

Mabel opened her mouth.

"But—"

"No 'buts', missy. Now let's go. The sooner we leave the sooner we get back." Stan nudged her towards the exit. He then turned his attention on Wendy.

"Make sure he eats lunch. He skipped out on breakfast and whether he likes it or not, the kid has gotta eat something."

Wendy coolly saluted him, and Stan rolled his eyes as he followed Soos out the exit. Mabel shuffled behind.

"Hey," Wendy called after Mabel. Mabel turned towards her. "Don't worry, Mabel. I promise to take extra care of your brother while you're gone, okay? He's in good hands."

Mabel smiled at that and nodded. She hurriedly got into Soos's truck and Wendy waved at them as they drove away.

As soon as the dust cleared from the truck peeling off, Wendy began her ascent upstairs to check on her preadolescent friend. She contemplated knocking first but realized that he was most likely going to be sleeping. Stepping quietly into the room, she saw Dipper curled up like a fetus and snoring softly. Her eyes softened at the sight.

He would hate to hear her say it, but Dipper was the most adorable person she knew aside from Mable.

She sat on the edge of his bed softly and watched him breathing for a moment, not wanting to disturb his peace. Then she brushed her hand up against his forehead to feel how warm he was. She frowned when she realized that his fever was still high. She hoped that they would be back soon with his medicine.

Dipper mumbled something in his sleep and she drew her hand back in surprise. After a moment, she thought about what Stan had said about him eating and decided that there was no better time than to do that now.

* * *

"Soos, will you just pick a type of syrup and be done with it?"

Stan leant heavily against the shopping cart with a look of great exasperation. Soos had spent the last five minutes deciding between maple and blueberry syrup and it was really starting to push the limit bar on Stan's Soosometer for the day. Soos looked up from the two syrups.

"Sorry, Mister Pines, but you can never be too careful when choosing which one of the two would be the worthiest on my pancakes."

Stan groaned and ran a hand down his face roughly. The cart jolted as a load of food crash landed into it. Startled, Stan turned his eyes to his great niece placing the last bits of the groceries into the cart with great speed. She dusted off her hands with a smile before giving Soos and Stan a determined look.

"So that takes care of the groceries. Now let's go get Dipper his medicine!" She hopped up onto the side of the cart and struck a pose before slapping the end of it. "Away, my trusted metal steed! Onwards!"

The geriatric sighed and tugged on her sweater to catch her attention.

"Mabel, calm down. We haven't even been gone ten minutes. Sheesh, any more rushing and you'll give me an ulcer."

"But Dipper—" Mabel began before Stan cut her off with a hand on her shoulder.

"Trust me, honey, he's fine. Everything over there is A-OK."

* * *

Everything over at the Mystery Shack was _not_ A-OK.

Wendy cursed under her breath when she had thoroughly searched through every nook and cranny of the kitchen and found absolutely no food. She had wanted to make some grilled cheese and soup for her friend, but that was all for naught at this point. The only thing she saw close to food were the big cans of meat stocked in the cupboard above the stove. Her eye quirked at the sign plastered behind the cans reading: FOR THE APOCALYPSE, WE'RE ALL GUNNA DIE. Disturbed, she closed it and sighed.

"Cheap old man," she grumbled.

The clock on the wall read noon and she hesitated. Perhaps if she went home and grabbed some food, then she'd have everything ready twenty minutes' tops. Still, she didn't like the idea of leaving him alone while she went out. However, she knew Dipper needed to eat something so with that in mind she quickly grabbed her bike and headed out, making sure to lock up the shack.

Ten minutes later, Wendy opened the shack and dumped the ingredients onto the kitchen table, sweating a little. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, the red head started making his lunch. Next thing she knew she was carrying Dipper's lunch on a tray along with a thermometer that she found and a cool cloth for his head.

She entered the room once more and saw that Dipper hadn't moved from his position. She set the tray down on the nightstand and sat down next to him.

"Dipper? Dude, Dipper, wake up, man." Nothing.

Wendy shook his shoulder a bit and heard him groan in disapproval. Chuckling, she shook him a little harder until his eyes cracked open.

"C'mon, Dip, get up," she said, smiling down on him.

Dipper's vision blurred together as he struggled to blink. His head swam, and he groggily tried to clear the spots fogging up his sight. Everything seemed to be tilted out of proportion. Turning his head, he could slightly make out a solid figure sitting next to him. Who or what was in front of him, he had no idea, and he was a bit startled at first, but then suddenly the shape took form and he couldn't believe his eyes at who was with him.

Dipper rasped out, "Mom?"

Wendy blinked in surprise and immediately went to correct him with a chuckle.

"No, no, dude, I—"

She was cut off at the feel of arms wrapping themselves around her waist and a shaggy head burying into her side. She looked down in shock and awkwardly lay her hand on his back.

"Are you only staying until I get better, mom?" She heard him mumble into her flannel shirt.

"Uh…" Wendy paused. Then Mabel's words came back to her.

 _I mean, he just thought I was an eggplant for crying out loud!_

Oh. _OH._ She couldn't help the amused smile spreading across her face. Oh, man, she was totally going to have fun with this. Stifling her laughter, Wendy pat her hand upon the boy's back and cooed out in a motherly voice, "It's okay, Dipper, I'm here now. Mommy's gunna take care of you."

Small shivers wracked the poor boy's figure as he clung to her tighter. She heard him sniffle into her shirt and her smile waned. She'll definitely need to change out of this shirt as soon as possible.

Clearing her throat, she asked, "How's your head?"

"Hurts," Dipper muttered pathetically.

"Alright, well, sit up so you can eat your lunch and hopefully it'll go away by then." She tried prying him off her, but he held on tighter, shaking his head back and forth.

"M'not hungry…"

Wendy sighed. "Dipper, you have to eat something whether you like it or not. Now, c'mon, let go, man."

She felt his arms loosen with a defeated sigh before he sat back, eyes unfocused and the bags under his eyes prominent. Wendy grabbed the tray and set it down carefully on his lap. "Eat up," she stated before leaving for the bathroom to wash off the thermometer.

Dipper was hardly paying attention to what was going on, feeling incredibly light headed. His eyelids blinked one at a time as his gaze finally drifted down to what was in his lap.

It was soup and a sandwich, that much he understood. How'd that even get there? The soup was red. His brows furrowed in confusion. Why would _soup_ be _red?_ Unless… his eyes widened. Shaking slightly, he picked up the sides of the bowl and brought it up to his nose to give it a sniff. To his surprise, it didn't smell like blood…but still… was it?

 _It's tomato soup, you idiot_ , his logical side interrupted.

Tomato. TOMATO SOUP. Since when did tomato soup look like blood or…or change colors? His pupils dilated at the sight of the odd colorful swirls suddenly mixing in with the soup. Then, as if on cue, an item bubbled to the surface and to his horror a green eye blinked back at him. Shrieking, Dipper quickly launched the bowl across the room where it crashed against the wall and clattered to the ground, soup spilt everywhere.

Wendy nearly jumped a mile high at the loud sounds coming from the twin's room. She dashed into the room and gasped at the mess on the floor. She looked up to see Dipper pushed up against the wall, breathing heavily and staring wide eyed at the floor.

"Dipper, dude! What the—?"

"I-I…there…i-it was—I—ha—so—green—!" Dipper was talking so fast that he began to hyperventilate, clutching his head as he continued to stare down at the spilt soup in fear.

Wendy blinked. Okay, now he was starting to freak her out a little. Maybe those pills were screwing up his mind more than she thought they would. There was nothing she could do other than try and get him to calm down. He looked like he was ready to explode.

"Whoa, whoa, hey," she called out gently as she approached him rather apprehensively.

She saw his brown eyes dart up to her and the rapid motion of his chest slowly eased out at the sight of her. He didn't move, and she took that as a sign to sit down next to him. She lay a hand on his arm and they both lowered from his head. He seemed to have almost completely calmed down at this point.

"You wanna tell me what happe—?"

At that moment, as if someone had cut invisible strings from above his body, he slumped against her with all his weight, passed out. Soft snores escaped him, and Wendy had to take a moment to herself from what had just happened. She figured that the actual sleep part of the medication must have kicked in. Great.

She stared down at the untouched food on the floor and sighed. She might as well clean this mess up before Stan drop kicked her out the nearest window. That old geezer was so pesky when it came to spilled liquids. Sighing once more, she lay Dipper back down and covered him up when he began to shiver. She stood up and began to clean up the soup on the hardwood floor before it created a stain.

Once she finished wiping it up, she went back to the discarded thermometer in the bathroom and saw that it was now clean and ready for use. Only now Dipper was knocked the hell out for who knows how long. She furrowed her brows and decided to just wait until he woke back up.

"NO!"

Which, apparently, was right now. Wendy's heart leapt as she once again hurried into the twin's room. Dipper was sitting upright and breathing hard, sweating and shaking as he stared ahead in terror at nothing. The sheet was flung to the side and Dipper slowly brought a pillow up in front of himself in defense.

"Dipper?" Wendy called out, pulling a face at her friend's odd actions.

"Mom," Dipper said suddenly, eyes never leaving the spot in front of him, "don't move. He'll see you."

The redhead looked over at where Dipper was looking to once again see nothing there.

"Uh…who—?"

" _He sees everything_ ," Dipper whispered out dramatically as his eyes widened with intense focus, his mouth curling into a deep frown.

Wendy honestly had no clue what to do at that moment. Dipper was clearly seeing something that wasn't there, and she was a bit afraid of where those drugs were taking him and how he was going to react if she so much as moved a muscle. Her questioning abruptly ended when Dipper tensed and leaned forward as his face twisted into unrestrained rage.

"Shut up! Quit stalking my family!" His hands clenched onto the pillow tightly.

His eyes bore into that all too familiar triangular shaped dream demon casually sitting in the air at the edge of his bed, his yellow aura glowing even more so than what he was used to seeing. Bill Cipher pin wheeled his arms in the air as he cackled with joyous glee. His one eye scrunched up in what could only be described as a grin considering his lack of a mouth.

"Oh ho hoooo, but it's already happening, Pine Tree! And you're too late to stop me because I'm…" he paused dramatically before wiggling his arms above his head, "in your heeeeaaaad!"

Dipper yelped and grasped his head. "No! Get out of there, Bill! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Ll'I eb gnihctaw uoy, eniP eerT!" Bill's high voice echoed as his body morphed into a bright yellow unicorn wearing a tailcoat suit and monocle, his top hat covering the horn. Dipper's eyes bugged as the horse whinnied and galloped out the door.

Wendy, who was starting to become restless while standing so still, watched Dipper's comically shrunken pupils follow something out the door and decided to take charge in that moment. Cautiously, like one approaching an injured wolf, she made her way to Dipper and hesitantly sat down next to him. He didn't move, apparently still stunned at whatever just left. She slowly raised a hand and placed it on the top of his shaggy brown locks. He remained unresponsive, but the tension seemed to be leaving his body a little.

She paused and then began to stroke his hair comfortingly. The effect was instantaneous. Dipper's entire body relaxed, and his eyes drooped lower and lower. It wasn't long before he had slumped against her once more, unconscious. She continued to rake her hand through his hair for a couple more minutes to make sure he was really asleep. Then she lay him back down and placed a damp towel over his unique Big Dipper birthmark, smoothing back his hair in the process.

She sighed, finally being able to relax herself. It must have been a night terror, she reasoned. She draped a blanket over him when he began to shiver and made her way back downstairs. Unbeknownst to her, the triangle etched on the side of the door blinked its wooden eye and faded out of sight with a high-pitched cackle.

 **So actually this does take place in the beginning of Season 2 since Bill has already been introduced as a character at this point. Next chapter will be posted tomorrow, folks! *grin splits face open***

 **Bill (in Dipper's body): Race ya to the bottom of the stairs! *tips backwards and tumbles down stairs***

 ***Dipper flies down to kitchen* Dipper: Hey!**

 **Bill: Human soda! I'm gunna drink it like a person! *Gargle laughs as he pours soda over mouth and face***


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for such a short chapter but enjoy it all the same!**

Mabel tapped her foot impatiently with a frown.

"Uggghhhhh, why is this taking so _long_?"

Stan glanced down at her with a grunt, unamused by his grand nieces' constant complaints.

"I keep telling you, Mabel, it's the _pharmacy_. The lines are ridiculous! This is exactly why I never come to this place! Not only do they demand all your life's savings, but they have the NERVE to make you wait for hours before doing so! You'd have better luck finding a cure for your illness than depending on medicine from _these_ bozos. You sure Dipper needs all this?"

Mabel glared up at Stan and the old man quickly put up his hands. "Alright, geez! I get it!"

Soos suddenly came up from behind them. "Hey, guys, you think Dipper will like these?"

He held up a box of band-aids with crude illustrations of monsters and aliens sketched on them.

"Yes!"

"No."

Soos shrugged. "Figured I'd get 'em anyway. Little dude might need them and you all know how he likes monster hunting."

"Never noticed," Stan said dryly.

"Next!"

"Oh, FINALLY!" Mabel and Stan exclaimed at the same time. This made Stan grin at how alike his niece is to him sometimes. They approached the counter.

"How can I help you?" A middle-aged pharmacist drawled out.

They placed their items on the counter and Stan slapped down a piece of paper. "Ya got any of this?"

The man took the paper, read it, and looked up through heavy eyes. "Got a signed prescription from your doctor for this?"

Stan blinked at him in surprise and then set a glare at Mabel. She shrugged helplessly.

"I didn't know!"

Stan closed his eyes and sighed. "Look, pal, you got anything that's just like this that doesn't _need_ a stupid prescription? Like, anything at all? My other kid has a pretty serious flue problem."

The man stroked his beard thoughtfully before giving Stan a knowing look. "Hmm. I miiiight have something stored in the back…" He cleared his throat and gestured to Stan's wallet.

Stan folded his arms and glared at him. "Not on your life, you little—"

Stan felt a tug on his coat and looked down to see Mabel pleading up at him with those giant eyes of hers. "Please? For Dipper?"

The old codger let out an irate grumble as he took out a ten and passed it to the pharmacist. The man quickly slipped it into his pocket and said in a much lighter tone, "Lemme just slip in the back for a few moments and see what I can find."

"It better be legit, buddy!" Stan shook a fist at the retreating pharmacist.

Mabel hugged Stan with a big smile. "Thanks, Grunkle Stan."

Stan rolled his eyes. "Don't thank me. Thank the crowd of idiots I toured this morning who helped pay for that."

* * *

Fifteen minutes had passed since Wendy left Dipper to sleep. She was watching a bit of TV to keep herself preoccupied while she waited for the others to return; she absentmindedly pet Waddles who oinked happily beside her. She tapped her foot at the wait, however, wondering where they could possibly BE. She checked her phone. It was barely 12:30. Should she call Soos? Did they ever mention when they would be back? She couldn't recall if they did but forced herself not to worry. Stan did say that they were getting medicine AND groceries, so they'll most likely be back before the hour was up. She'll just continue to check in on Dipper every five minutes.

Just as she was beginning to relax, she heard a loud thump come from upstairs. Waddles let out a squeal of fright and ran out of the room. Jolting up from her position, her heart leapt in her throat at the sound. Wasting no time at all, she dashed upstairs. She threw open the door and saw Dipper sprawled out on the ground tangled tightly in his blankets.

Dipper was moaning, pitifully trying to untangle himself with deep, heavy breaths. The red-headed teen leapt to his side and started to help him out of the mess he had been caught in. Once every limb was detached, Dipper dropped to his hands and knees. His head hung low as he tried to steady his irregular breathing.

"Dipper…?" Wendy asked hesitantly. Worry gnawed at her chest upon seeing him in such a distressed state. She lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Dipper, are you oka—"

Dipper's head shot up and he looked at Wendy with such an intense stare that she herself was wondering if somebody had just died.

"Bathroom," Dipper whimpered weakly.

Wendy did not hesitate. She hoisted him up and quickly led him to the bathroom down the hall. Upon entering, she lifted the toilet seat and Dipper collapsed on the rim of it, retching into the bowl. Wendy kneeled next to him and brushed his bangs out of his face all the while rubbing his back. She was thankful that she's already had experience with taking care of her sick brothers and that someone vomiting wasn't such a big deal to her anymore.

She was surprised that Dipper was emptying out anything at all since he skipped out on eating today. From what she could hear, though, it wasn't much. Soon he was dry heaving into the bowl for a moment before wetly coughing, spitting out whatever remained in his mouth.

He whimpered, and Wendy thought she heard her heart break at the sound. It was awful seeing him like this. Usually he was always so confident and full of passion, but this was nothing like that and it was strange for her to witness. She had to keep reminding herself that he was still a kid after all. It was sometimes hard to picture him as only being twelve because he tended to act much more mature for his age. And, man, was this kid smart, too. It made her proud to call him her friend. She frowned. But right now, her friend needed help and what friend would she be if she didn't take care of him?

Grabbing a towel, Wendy slowly eased him back against her and gingerly wiped his face clean. Dipper lay motionless, still breathing a bit hard from his earlier exertion. Wendy refrained from looking inside the toilet and reached over him to flush it all down. She heard Dipper's voice hitch at the sudden shift and she looked down to see him shaking like a leaf. God, this poor kid was just so _sick,_ and it was worrying her greatly.

Through the nausea, pounding headache, and fire burning in his throat, Dipper couldn't help but become vulnerable in this state as he let out a quiet sob and turned to clutch onto Wendy's shirt for comfort. He wrapped his noodle arms around her middle and allowed himself to quietly weep, too exhausted to cry any harder. He felt her arms snake around him without hesitation and hug back. It felt so motherly that it quickly reduced his choked sobs into soft sniffles, hiccupping every now and then.

They both sat on the bathroom floor as Wendy attempted to comfort Dipper. She rubbed up and down his back soothingly as her other hand began to massage his scalp lightly. Both these methods used to work on her brothers so she figured that it might have the same effect on her small friend. So far it was working, and she ignored the cramping in her legs from sitting on them.

"You're ok, Dipper, it's gunna be ok. Sh, you'll be fine." She cooed out as gently as possible.

Dipper drank in her words as he calmed down entirely, feeling sleep starting to overcome him. He was glad that his nausea had lifted and his headache wasn't nearly as bad as it was. Not once did he question who was holding him for he was simply just too tired to care in the slightest. He lay his head against her chest and closed his eyes. Wendy noticed this and stopped petting his hair, he seemed almost foreign without his trademark hat.

"You feeling better?"

Barely awake, Dipper meekly nodded.

"Do you want to go back to your room to sleep?"

He hesitated for a moment before nodding once more. His energy was completely diminished and the vomiting had left him too jaded to bother doing anything else.

Wendy sighed before carefully turning around still crouched so that her back was presented towards him.

"Alright, Dip, climb on."

Dipper didn't hesitate. He latched onto her shoulders, legs hugging her midsection as he clung on like a baby koala. Wendy scooped his legs closer and held them in place for balance. She slowly stood back up on her feet, wobbling with the effort of how heavy he was, and made her way towards his room.

She heard his breathing even out and concluded that he fell back asleep. His arms draped lazily over her shoulders and Wendy's nose crinkled. This guy seriously needed a SHOWER. He smelt like sweat and sick, two things that didn't pair well together _at all._ Her steps slowed as a sudden idea occurred to her.

A shower. Duh! Showers _always_ help with sickness. At least, they always had whenever she was sick. She should at least try and convince Dipper to take a shower, though it was highly unlikely he will want to. According to Mabel, he didn't shower too often and found it to be a waste of time.

She reached his bed and lay him down. Dipper flopped down with barely a struggle and mumbled as he rolled onto his side in his sleep. His face was still flushed and sweaty due to his fever and his pajamas were worse for wear at this point. He was breathing shallowly, lungs congested. Wendy frowned at this and then snapped her fingers when another idea came to mind.

She made her way to the bathroom and pulled back the shower curtain. She made a face at the sight of the tub. It certainly wasn't the cleanest thing in the world, but it'll have to make due. She turned each handle and water began to fill up the tub. She made sure the water was very warm before rummaging through the cabinets for soap. Her face lit up at the sight of a pink bottle of bubble soap, thankful that Mabel uses the stuff.

She squeezed a bit into the tub and watched as pink bubbles began to surface. Steam was beginning to fog up the bathroom mirrors and she smiled in satisfaction. She turned off the water once it was near full and then her smile slipped. Now came the hard part: Getting the sick boy INTO the tub. No doubt he'll be half asleep and unaware. He probably won't even have the energy to undress—

Her cheeks flushed. Oh, crap. Well, she certainly hadn't thought that part through. She shook off her embarrassment. No big deal, she can problem solve this. She didn't want Dipper to be entirely clean anyway. She just wanted him to sit in soapy water and have the bath steam open up his lungs and help make him feel better altogether.

With this in mind, she set off to grab Dipper.

 **Real talk, though, showers 100% always make me feel so much better when I'm sick. Let's see how this plays out for our poor sick nerd!**

 **Stan: Wendy? Where's the lifeguard?**

 **Wendy: I am the lifeguard. I make the rules, sucka! BOOSH! *throws water balloon at Stan***

 **Stan: Aah! She's attacking me with water! *runs off and everyone else laughs***

 **Dipper: Wow. You work here?**

 **Wendy: I found out lifeguards get free snack privileges. Plus, I get the best seat in the house.**

 **Dipper: Yeah, you do! *laughs forcefully* *whispers* I've been laughing for too long.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Busy day so it's a late post but now that I'm free I am ready to post! Enjoy! :)**

The back of the truck door slammed shut as all the groceries were loaded in. Stan placed his hands on his lower back and groaned as his spine cracked from stretching it out.

"Well, that was a nightmare," he said as he flipped through his now empty wallet.

Mabel was grinning as she opened the door to the backseat. "Aw, c'mon, Grunkle Stan, isn't it worth it to see Dipper all better?"

"No," Grunkle Stan grunted as he slid into the passenger seat.

"That's the spirit!" Mabel crowed, clambering into the back.

Soos got in with a bucktoothed smile. "Alright, dawgs, let's go home and save a life!"

"Yeah!" Mabel cheered as Stan rolled his eyes.

Soos inserted the key in and turned. The car sputtered and refused to start up. Frowning, Soos tried again but the old musty truck only sputtered once more.

"Huh," Soos said.

Stan glared at him. "Soos, please tell me that you know exactly what you're doing and this car will start up within the next five minutes."

"Uhhh, sure thing, Mister Pines! Soos the handyman always knows how to fix things… mostly!"

Soos got out of the car to check the hood and Stan groaned as he rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. Mabel leaned forward apprehensively.

"Grunkle Stan, I'm really worried about Dipper. You think he's ok?" Her voice shrank with fear.

Stan shifted his gaze to her and it softened at the sight of her. "Sweetie, he'll be ok, trust me. I'm gunna do everything I can to make sure that he gets his medicine by today."

She smiled at him, completely putting all her trust in her great uncle. Stan smiled back just as Soos opened his door. He was wiping his oily hands on his trousers with a fretful expression.

"So, uh, the battery is dead in the engine," he said.

Stan's brow rose. "So, what, does it need a new set of double A's or…?"

Before Soos could reply, the sound of a siren cut in and a police car pulled up next to them. As soon as Stan saw who had pulled them over—though he was already expecting it since there didn't seem to be any other police officers in town— he moaned in aggravation.

"Oi. _These_ two."

Sherriff Blubs and Deputy Durland stepped out with suspicious eyes. Blubs hoisted up his pants and waddled to the truck, his sunglasses flashing in the light of day. He leaned against Stan's side of the car and pointed a finger at him through the rolled down window.

"Well, well, if it isn't Stanford Pines. Just what kind of ruckus are you causing now, old man?"

"Woo! We got 'im now!" The taller one of the two chimed in with a wide grin, backing his partner up to which Blubs smiled at that.

"What? Nothing!" Stan argued, "We were just trying to get home when dingus over here forgot to switch out the car batteries." He thumbed towards Soos who looked more confused than ever.

"Uh, Mister Pines, that's not—"

"So back off!" Stan barked at the officers. "I haven't done anything yet!"

"Hogtie?" Durland suggested to Blubs excitedly and held up some rope with a stupid grin.

Blubs sighed. He hated to break his partner's heart like this. "As much as I want to deny it, he's right. He technically HASN'T done anything yet."

"Aw," Durland whined, downtrodden as he lowered the rope.

Blubs lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I promise you that we'll get to do that to someone one of these days. I don't care how long it takes as long as it's with you."

Durland smiled down at him, eyes shining with unbridled emotions.

Mabel cooed at the sight, her hands going to her heart. Stan cleared his throat loudly, interrupting their tender moment.

"Yeah, so, you mind helping us with this battery situation? I got a sick kid at home who needs this medicine for him to be able to survive by tomorrow."

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel cried out fearfully, clearly believing this to be true.

Stan leaned back to whisper at her gruffly, "Play along with me, kid."

Mabel seemed to perk up at that as she looked at the awaiting officers. "Oh, uh, yeah! My brother's going to die unless we get him his medication and if you don't help us it'll be all your fault! Do you REALLY want that on your conscious?! Huh?! Do you!?" Mabel shook a fist at them.

Stan brought her fist down and said in a grunt underneath his breath, "Tone it back a bit."

"I mean, uh, it's an epidemic! If we don't cure Dipper, then it'll be a mass breakout! Hide the women and children!" Mabel voiced dramatically.

Stan face palmed with a groan. He loved her gumption but she was a terrible liar, something that they did not share in the slightest. Fortunately, Soos managed to somehow save it.

"Yeah, dudes! If you like save his life and stuff, you'll be known as heroes! Maybe the mayor will even give you guys like medals or something."

This miraculously seemed to do the trick on the gullible cops as they turned to one another with stars in their eyes.

"You don't think he means…" Blubs began.

"The "Good Job" medal," they said in awe before breaking out into gleeful giggles.

"The _what_?" Stan stated incredulously.

"The "Good Job" medal," Blubs repeated, "It's the highest medal of honor to be given to a small town cop. Only a few have ever been given one by the mayor of Gravity Falls, and Durland and I are dedicated to achieving it."

"It's part of our bucket list!"

"Yeah, great." Stan rolled his eyes. "So does this mean you'll—"

"We got us a city boy to save!" Durland cheered, running back to the cop car.

Blubs shook his head with a laugh. "That's my Durland, always on top of things." He turned back to the crew in the truck. "Before we get a move on, we gotta make sure that this rescue mission is officially approved by the mayor himself so we're gunna need to make a few phone calls first."

Everyone in the truck let out a long groan of frustration, particularly Stan who knew that the oldest mayor in the world would have trouble comprehending anything that was asked of him.

"OH HO HOOOOO YOU'VE GOTTA BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!" He bellowed up into the roof of the truck in anger at the sheer stupidity of it all.

* * *

"You've gotta be freaking kidding me," Wendy muttered at Dipper's slumped form against the outer part of the tub.

When she had carried him to the bathroom, he was semi awake and had nodded into taking a bath, thought she was sure he hadn't meant to do anything of the sort and was just distractedly lolling his head around in a sort of drugged stupor. Still, she took that as a sign to proceed and tried to set him down on his feet once in the bathroom. His legs gave out underneath him and she narrowly caught him before his head hit the side of the tub. She then allowed him to lay up against the tub instead and then realized that he was once more passed out.

Wendy let out a huff, red hair flying out of her face in the process. She sighed and kneeled in front of him. Doing her best to try thinking of him as her own brother, she took off his red shirt and his socks. This left him in his pajama shorts, which she decided to let him keep on. He was her friend and she would respect his boundaries. She didn't want the guy to be utterly humiliated knowing she saw him naked.

She breathed deeply, preparing herself as she lifted him by his arms and lowered him into the tub. The bubbles caressed against him gently. He settled in and she let go with a smile. Her smile completely did a one-eighty when Dipper's body continued to slide down as his head went to submerge. The temperature of the water must have turned his bones into jelly. She brought him back up just in time and cursed under her breath. Ok, she was going to have to wake him up.

She lightly shook the boy and called his name. Dipper didn't even twitch. Growling, she tapped his face with her hand and threw in a few harder slaps. "DIPPER!" Dipper jolted awake with wide bloodshot eyes. He screamed in surprise.

"What's-what's going on?! W-what happened?! Where am I?!" His head swiveled left and right and Wendy kept him still with a hand on his arm. He didn't seem to pay too much attention to her, she realized and kept her voice low.

"Hey, bud, sorry, but I had to wake you up," she said soothingly, "You wanna stay sitting up for me for a little bit while you take a bath?" She stroked his locks to keep him calm.

Her voice and movements were doing the trick as Dipper instantly eased up and his lids drooped tiredly. His unfocused eyes sought hers and he nodded. Man, this guy was TOTALLY out of it, she mused. It was better than nothing. She smiled at him and grabbed a washcloth. She lathered it with soap and began to wash him.

"Mph, i-is Mabel gunna mrphrmun…" Dipper slurred out sleepily, head rolling forward before jerking it up once it began to gravitate him forward. The process repeated like this for a few moments.

Wendy chuckled. She just couldn't resist. Taking out her phone, she quickly snapped a photo of them and tucked it back into her pocket. "Mabel will be here soon, don't you worry about that, dude."

Dipper just continued to murmur to himself as Wendy finished soaping up his upper body before taking a cup from underneath the sink and filling it with warm water. She poured it on top of his head slowly, rinsing his hair with the other hand. Dipper remained silent, managing to stay upright for her. She was impressed by this feat and hurriedly finished up so he could go back to sleep. She grabbed a dry fluffy towel off the rack.

"Alright, Dip, c'mon, let's go."

Dipper gave no protest when Wendy lifted him out. She had him sit on the toilet as she dried him off. He simply stared ahead with sleep deprived eyes, barely registering what was happening to him. She took a look at him and internally smiled at the sight of him looking much better than he did before. His skin wasn't as pale and his eyes not as dark. She was glad the bath wasn't a complete waste of time and did manage to help his sickness a bit.

While she ran the towel over his hair, she noticed that his shorts were still very wet and she bit her lip. Shoot. How could she possibly think that he can sleep in wet pajamas? She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought. She pursed her lips. She supposed it was time to test the theory if Dipper was in his right mind to do something by himself.

She told him to wait there for her and that she would be right back. She quickly left the room and entered the twin's room to try and find another pair of dry pajamas. His drawers were empty. However, there was a large unwashed pile of clothes near his bed and figured that a dirty dry pair was better than nothing. When she returned to the restroom, she saw that Dipper had moved to sit on the floor and was leaning against the cabinet sink. She sighed in relief when she saw that he wasn't asleep, but he was clearly struggling to stay awake.

Wendy walked over and gently grabbed his hands and asked him to stand up for her. She pulled and he easily followed, swaying slightly on his feet. His eyes blinked slowly as she lifted his arms to put on a dry shirt. Once it was secure, she held up the shorts for him.

"Think you can change out of your wet shorts and put on these new ones, bud?"

She was delighted to see him nod and grab the shorts from her lazily. Then, to her surprise, he began to pull off his shorts. Flushing, she quickly spun around so as to avoid seeing anything and patiently waited. There was the sound of wet fabric hitting the floor and a slight shuffle. The shuffling stopped and she took a peek behind her to see that he had successfully pulled on the shorts but desperately looked like he needed to lay down.

"Alright, you sleepy dork, let's get you to bed." She gave him another piggy back ride back to bed and made sure he was tucked in. Dipper curled into the blankets.

"Mmph, thanks…Mabel…" Dipper mumbled thickly.

Wendy smiled softly at him and ruffled his hair affectionately. She sat on his bed against the wall beside him and decided to wait until he was asleep before going back downstairs. Minutes passed and watching Dipper fall asleep was strangely making her sleepy. She fought a yawn and her mind tried to tell her to get up and leave, but the bed was pretty comfortable, and she was just _so tired_ from the emotional roller coaster she went through that day.

Her eyes slipped close and before she knew it she had fallen asleep beside him.

 ***wheezing and out of breath* Blubs: There...is no...escape! I gotta take a knee.**

 **Durland: Are you ok? Can I get you anything?**

 **Blubs: Edwin, darlin', you are a diamond in the rough.**

 **BONUS!**

 **Quentin Trembley: And then he chased me around and spanked me with a paddle for, like, three hours. Bottom line, George Washington was a JERK.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the last chapter! Happy readings, my lovelies!**

Click. Giggle. Snap. Snap. Click. Giggle.

Wendy's brows furrowed in her sleep at the sound of girlish giggling reached her ears. When they continued and didn't seem to be stopping, her green eyes fluttered open. Her blurred vision cleared and in front of her was Mabel taking photo after photo on a disposable camera, trying to suppress her giggles with much failure.

"Mabel?" Wendy questioned sleepily.

Mabel gasped and quickly stashed away the camera in her rainbow kitty sweater. She grinned up at Wendy and bounced on her toes.

"Hey, there, Mama Bear! Sleep well?" Mabel asked with another giggle.

Wendy rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's almost two. Sorry for arriving home so late but we ran into a couple problems." Mabel twirled her hand with a shake of her head. Then she slyly smirked at Wendy. "And how was baby bear?"

"Oh, he's—" Wendy froze when she didn't see Dipper in his usual sleeping spot and began to panic when an abrupt snore beneath her had her jump in surprise. She looked down in time to see said figure snuggling further into her. He looked like a burrito all curled up in her lap with his head resting on her knee. He was still fully passed out, the blankets pulled up to his chin and a bit of drool escaping his mouth. She heard Mabel giggle once more at the sight of them.

Wendy grinned playfully at her, "You're gunna send me one of those photos, right?"

"You got it, sister!" Mabel climbed up onto the bed and took another photo of Dipper.

"Look, Soos, it's not rocket science. The reason our cars break down all the time is because the government wants us to be defenseless once the apocalypse hits. That way we'll always have to depend on them, those monsters."

"Wow. Your wisdom knows no bounds, Mister Pines."

The voices and footsteps grew louder as Stan and Soos stepped into the room. Stan was carrying all of the medicine they purchased earlier and Soos had the box of band aids he purchased for Dipper.

"Alright, where is he?" Stan's eyes landed on his nephew still sleeping on Wendy and a grey brow rose in puzzlement.

"What the hecks going on here? You bore him with one of your stories, Wendy?"

In response, Wendy rolled her eyes. "More like he's drugged out on whatever you gave him earlier. You get him the right medicine this time?"

"We better have with the hassle we went through today. My pockets feel personally violated," Stan grunted, shuddering at the thought of spending all that money. He turned to Soos.

"Alright, Soos, grab Dipper and bring him downstairs so we can feed him and give him this medicine."

Soos saluted him and carefully picked up Dipper off Wendy's legs, blanket and all. He cradled the boy against his chest and cooed at the sight. "Awww, it's like holding a damp baby."

Wendy jumped off the bed and stretched. "Yeah, he just took a bath so he might feel that way for a bit."

Mabel started bouncing on the bed giddily and laughed out, "You gave him a bath?!"

"He needed it," Wendy said coolly with a shrug, "He's sicker than he looks and, not gunna lie, he wasn't smelling too great."

"Oof, glad I wasn't there," Stan said, "Anything else "exciting" happen?"

But Wendy wasn't paying attention to Stan. A red bottle had rolled out from underneath Dipper's bed from Mabel's constant bouncing. Perplexed, she scooped down and picked it up. It was an obviously very old bottle of some sort. She couldn't even read the label for it had withered away with age. She dared to take a smell inside the container and reeled back in disgust. It was cough syrup that smelled like moldy artificial cherries. It definitely wasn't her favorite flavor. The bottle was empty.

"What's this doing under Dipper's bed?" She asked them.

Mabel gasped and snatched the bottle from her hand. After examining it, she set a piercing glare at her great uncle and Stan gulped.

"Grunkle Stan, did you give him this?" Mabel asked accusingly.

"What? It's medicine! It probably helped him in the end! And, besides, Soos was the one who gave it to him, not me," Stan defended strongly.

Wendy took the bottle back as Soos said, "I didn't think he'd actually drink it, dude."

"Well, it's no wonder he hallucinated for so long. This stuff expired like twenty years ago. He must have accidentally drank all of it," the teen explained.

"Okay, alright, I screwed up, but, hey, look on the bright side at least I don't have to store that bottle in my cupboard for the next twenty years, huh?" Stan joked with a grin. His grin fell into a frown when the bottle bounced off his chest.

"Nope. Now you get to store it on a shelf trying to convince customers that it's a haunted bottle of cough syrup," Wendy chuckled.

"Ooh! We'll put it in a box and call it the Coughin' Ghost!" Mabel suggested excitedly.

"Or we can call it the Boo Bottle of Death!" Soos piped in.

Stan rubbed his temples as Wendy, Soos, and Mabel began to list off puns and quirky names for the apparently new exhibit. "Alright, alright, enough! We can discuss this later. We've dawdled on long enough up here so let's get on downstairs and—"

Stan jumped when Waddles let out a loud oink next to him, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"I said dawdle, not Waddles," Stan told the pig with a bemused stare.

Mabel scooped up her pet and called out, "Picture time!"

Everyone was pushed together by Mabel as Wendy was given the camera so that her long arms could capture everyone in it.

SNAP.

* * *

Dipper groaned and buried his head in his arms at the sight of the photo. Wendy was able to capture everyone squished in together. Stan was protesting in the picture, not enjoying being held so close by Soos who had a large childlike grin on his face. Wendy was on the other side of Soos, laughing, and Mabel had jumped up into the frame between Wendy and Soos sporting a brace filled smile. And in the center of it all was a very sick and unconscious Dipper wrapped up in a blanket and cradled against Soos, open mouth drooling a bit, a monster band-aid slapped onto his cheek.

Dipper brought back up his head with a grimace, glaring at everyone sitting at the table who had erupted into boisterous laughter. Even Waddles, who was now much bigger than he used to be, was squealing in what could only be described as amusement on the floor next to Mabel. Dipper narrowed his eyes on his sister in particular.

"I hate you, Mabel," he grumbled moodily.

Mabel wiped a tear from her eye as her laughs reduced to giggling, her teeth looking especially white without the braces there anymore. She wrapped an arm around her twin, who didn't bother to shrug it off.

"Aw, c'mon, bro bro! This is a great memory! We liked taking care of you!"

"Yeah! You were like a cute little sweaty cinnamon bun," Soos gushed.

"Not helping, Soos," Dipper said, frowning.

"Not to mention you were less annoying being unconscious all the time," Stan chipped in and took a sip of Pitt Cola. Dipper glared at him.

Stanley's identical twin brother, Stanford Pines, shook his head next to him, "I can't believe all the stuff I missed while I was gone."

"Consider yourself lucky, Grunkle Ford," Dipper mumbled, still hung up over the pictures.

Wendy snickered beside him. "Dude, it wasn't _that_ bad. The worst was when you hallucinated I was your MOM for a good half hour."

Dipper groaned in humiliation and covered his face with his hands. Wendy rubbed his back as she held in her laughter. Dipper's face flushed darker at her touch. Mabel was grinning at the sight as she rubbed the spot between Waddles' ears and the pig grunted happily. Ford couldn't help but chuckle at the poor lad. He reminded him so much of himself when he was around that age.

"Besides," Wendy added, "you weren't the only one who got sick that summer."

Dipper gave her an apologetic look, remembering how sick Wendy had become right after she took care of him. She had told him not to worry about it back then, saying how she expected it to happen since she knew how contagious he really was. She had jested that she should have worn a hazmat suit in the process to try and get Dipper to not fret. Still, Dipper did all he could to help Wendy when she was sick to return the favor of what she did for him. It warms her heart to this day.

"I just can't believe that those idiots weren't kidding about that medal," Stan pointed out as he gestured to the picture that was taken afterwards of Sheriff Blubbs and Deputy Durland. They were both holding a small bronze medal proudly between the two of them. The medal depicted a hand giving a thumbs up and underneath it said GOOD JOB. They both looked like proud parents showing off their kid as they held it. Mabel couldn't help but take a photo of them. It was just too precious.

"Why do they even _have_ such a ridiculous medal to begin with?" Ford asked disbelievingly.

"Trust me, Ford, it's best if you just leave this one be," Stan said with a hand to his brother's shoulder.

Ford rolled his eyes but agreed that it just wasn't worth the effort.

Mabel closed her scrapbook with the decision that Dipper might need a break from looking through their memories of spending their first summer in Gravity Falls. It was without a doubt the craziest summer the twins had ever experienced, and they were hoping it would stay that way. They already lived through ONE apocalypse; they didn't want another one ever in their lifetime.

"You'll forget about it in a couple years, Dip," Mabel assured with a wave of her hand.

Dipper lowered his hands with a scowl, "You said that _three_ years ago, Mabel."

"What's a couple more years, am I right?" Mabel enthusiastically said as she shot a couple finger guns at her brother.

"Mabel!" Dipper griped.

"Alright, you two, break it up," Stan said. He finished his drink and turned to Soos.

"Don't you have a business to run?"

Soos shook his head. "Not today, Mister Pines. Since you guys are in town I decided to close the shack for today so I can spend more time with you guys!"

Stan raised a brow. "Don't you think you should be raising some money for that wedding of yours coming up?"

"Nah, not really," Soos said, "Melody and I want a small wedding right here in Gravity Falls so money isn't gunna be much of a problem."

At the mention of the wedding, Mabel began to bounce in place with stars in her eyes. "Oh my gosh, I can't wait! I'll be the best bridesmaid this town has ever seen! Melody is gunna look _gorgeous_! You excited to be married to your," Mabel giggled slyly, " _fiancée_?"

"Wherever she is," Stan said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, yeah," Dipper asked, "where is Melody?" He looked around.

At the mention of her whereabouts, Soos' smile grew. "She's off getting the best known thing in this universe, dudes."

"A multiphase quantum resonator inside a portal gun?" Ford couldn't help questioning and Stan facepalmed at how nerdy his genius brother sounded.

"Nope! Way better than that! It's—!"

"Pizza's here!" A female voice called out as the door opened. Melody walked in holding several boxes of freshly made pizza. Suddenly feeling hungry once the smell wafted in, everyone's eyes lit up.

"You're right! This is much better!" Stan agreed, rubbing his hands together. Ford glared at him.

Melody chuckled and placed the boxes down for everyone to start digging in. She walked over and gave Soos a kiss on the cheek in which he blushed. "Thanks, Melody! Pizza is probably my favorite thing on this planet, but you beat it by a million points, Mel." He smiled sweetly at her and Melody returned it with a kiss.

Mabel cooed at this through a mouthful of pizza and Dipper smiled at the two. If there was one thing the twins knew they'd be proud of that summer was how they managed to get the two lovers together. Things had changed so much since their first summer, but they had changed for the better. Dipper and Mabel couldn't be any happier by how these changes were now a constant in their lives between Ford coming back from another dimension and Soos becoming the new Mister Mystery and owner of the Mystery Shack.

Still hungry, Dipper stood up to reach for a slice just as Wendy leaned over to grab the same slice. His hand accidentally bumped into hers and they both pulled back for a moment. Blushing, Dipper quickly grabbed the slice and another one, straightening up beside her as he did so. He gave her a weak grin as he offered the slice to her.

"S-sorry, uh, here," he stammered.

Wendy took the slice and looked slightly up at him with a grin. She couldn't believe how tall Dipper had grown in three years. He was an inch over her own height now and still growing. And was that scruff on his chin she can see in this light? Her grin grew and she nudged him lightly with her shoulder, chuckling. He laughed with her.

It was a wonderful dinner. Everyone felt very content afterwards and soon the table was full of chatter of past stories, discussions of their summer plans, and, of course, the upcoming wedding. Waddles dozed off through the lull of constant babble. The talking began to die down as the evening progressed until Mabel was the only one holding the conversation by talking about the concert she'll be attending with Candy and Grenda in three days.

As she talked animatedly, she sneezed suddenly and sniffled. It was ignored as she continued but then she began sneezing once more. Dipper raised a brow at her. Now that he was looking at her, she was looking a bit paler than normal…

"Mabel, you ok?" he asked when she sneezed once more.

Mabel wiped her nose on the arm of her sweater, leaving a trail of snot. "Of course, I'm okay! I'm super—s-super—achoo!" She groaned, suddenly sounding congested. Waddles woke up from the violent sneeze and pressed his snout to her side with worry.

"Uh-oh," Stan grunted. He reached over and felt her forehead. He pulled back quickly at her temperature. "Yeesh, kid! Any hotter and I'd have gotten a third degree burn from that!"

Ford repeated the process, his six fingered hand lingering on her head for a moment longer. He hummed and frowned. "Stanley's right. You've gotta be at least 38.3 degrees Celsius."

"In English, Einstein," Stan grumbled.

"It's 101 degrees," Dipper confirmed as he felt Mabel's forehead. Mabel groaned, not feeling too well all of a sudden.

"Want me to get the _Tylenol_ , Stan?" Wendy joked.

"You don't get to speak anymore," Stan warned as he pointed at her. Wendy only laughed.

"Alright, sweetie, up you go," Stan continued as he helped her to her unstable feet. Time to get you up into bed." Ford assisted and held her hand gingerly.

"But what about the concert?" Mabel rasped out sleepily as Stan put an arm around her.

"Well, the good thing about this is that we learned our first lesson with Dipper so you'll actually get the proper medicine to be well enough to go to your concert," Wendy said amusingly.

Mabel laughed a bit at that as Stan scowled. Ford stifled a snicker at the scene of events, and Dipper only rolled his eyes at the jab of what happened three years ago. Before leaving to tidy up the kitchen, Soos and Melody bade goodnight to Mabel as she was brought upstairs by her Grunkles, sniffling noisily. Waddles followed his favorite human like a loyal dog. Wendy gently elbowed Dipper in his side and he looked over at her. She smiled and held up a bottle of Tylenol. Dipper started to laugh.

"You weren't kidding about that to Grunkle Stan, were you?" he asked behind a chuckle.

Wendy grinned. "Nope. C'mon, dork, let's go take care of your sister."

She began her ascent upstairs and Dipper followed shaking his head in amusement knowing that Mabel was going to be needing constant attention on this rodeo he was about to be dragged into.

He didn't bother hiding his smile.

 **Had a lot of fun reading this! Hope you guys enjoyed the story and maybe I'll continue to write for this show in the future! If you like this I have other stories from other cartoon shows you can check out, and I'm cooking up more so feel free to keep an eye out!**

 **Now here's a bit of Gideon since I'm sorry to say that he did not make it into this story**

 ***phone rings and Stan picks it up***

 **Stan: Eh?**

 **Gideon: Stanford Pines, listen to me very closely. I have your niece and nephew. Hand over the deed to the Mystery Shack right now or great harm will befall them! (pause) This is Gideon by the way.**

 **Stan: (laughs) Oh, yeah. This has gotta be your worst plot yet. They're fine. I saw them playin' in the yard a few minutes ago.**

 **Gideon: I have them in my possession! You don't believe me?! I will TEXT you a photo!**

 **Stan: " _Text_ _me a photo_?" Now you're not even speakin' English! **

**Gideon: But-**

 ***Stan hangs up* Gideon: He-hello? HELLO!?**


End file.
